Dr. Carl Kellner - A Personal Reflection

Sigrid Plutzar

Many families share the interest for their own family history, where
are the roots, what is known about the ancestors. This also was the
case in our family house. I am a daughter of the oldest grandson of Dr.
Carl Kellner, that is his great granddaughter. Of ourse, there was often
reminiscience of Dr. Kellner in my family, my father was very proud
about his grandfather and admired him a lot, his genius, his
inventions, his social commitment and the family man. My father gladly
supported the Bavarian Academy of Science with material and documents
in 1977 and after in order to publish the life and work of Dr. Kellner
in the "Neue Deutsche Biographie". This was well known to me, although
I was completely unaware of "the other side" of my great
grandfather.

Mabye one can empathise my shock when per hasard I came across an
article in the supplement of the "AZ Thema" titled "Krampus und die
Postmoderne", Vienna 2 December 1988. The author, Manfred Marschalek
reviewed Josef Dvorak's book on "Satanism" and came to find out (as
also Dvorak did according to Marschalek) "... that modern satanism
started in Vienna at the turn of the century when the Vienna chemist
and manufacturer Dr. Carl Kellner founded the "Ordo Templi Orientis"
(OTO) in 1901 and celebrated sexmagical rites in a cult room of his
villa in Doeblin, which developed into a real satan cult. After
Kellner's early death caused by a selfmixed elixir of life also Rudolf
Steiner, Swiss residents of Monte Verità and the British satans-poet
Aleister Crowley continued the Order ..."

Based on this article I started to research "the other side" of
my great grandfather. First I studied the estate of my father (died in
1983): documents, correspondences and factory records. I gained
contacts, bought and read books (by Moeller, Frick and the like) and
tried this way to come to understand the complete strange matter. I was
in Hallein, visited the factory and the "Red Villa" and, of course, was
at the grave of my great grandfather.

Throughout the years I closely observed what has been published in its
various forms about Dr. Kellner and never said one word about all this,
but now I want my stance to be made quite clear.

My first impression was that everyone who touched the topic "OTO" or
"Carl Kellner" used to express himself in very inprecise wordings like
"apparently", "maybe", "seemingly" (e.g. Frick, "Licht und
Finsternis" II,
461). Such and similar speculative expressions always have been used in
order to press Dr. Kellner into a scheme according to the current
taste, interest and own discretion. Eventually my great grandfather
turned into the "ancestor" of sexmagic and satanism,
"goldmaker" and
"magician" as one sees fit. Added are "oral history" and
a
"G'schichterl" [a bit of gossiping] (as we say in Vienna) and
everything remains without proof and making sense. Prof. Moeller notes
in his book "Merlin Peregrinus" regarding Kellner's alleged trip to
India (page 140): "... unfortunately, John Symonds does not produce
evidence for this story which continues the mystification of the far
travelled manufacturer Keller who, as known, never was in India. This
mystification started with the death of Kellner." Grotesque I found
the
descriptions of the cursing of Kellner in 1903 (!) in Hallein and the
alleged circumstances of his death. This gossiping is based solely on
the tales of his widow who died in 1949 and which remain without proof
and therefore only contribute to the mystification.

In January 1999, Herr Peter-R. Koenig sent the "Flensburger Hefte" No 63
"Campaign against Rudolf Steiner" to me and asked for additions and
comments regarding Dr. Kellner and the OTO. I completely share Herr
Koenig's assumption (and he is surely be considered an international
expert on OTO and researches the matter scholarly and seriously) that
Dr. Kellner had nothing to do with the development of the OTO under
Reuss. One should finally stop ruminating that tradition and now
recognise that putting Kellner in the context of the OTO stands on weak
ground, and one should finally have only the facts to speak. Everything
that cannot be proven should remain outside serious articles and books.

My great grandfather was a genious, far beyond his time, generous and
first of all a tender husband and father. I am puzzled that the public
draws a partial picture of this extraordinary man.

If I should be wrong with this my assessment I am gladly prepared to
correct my picture of my great grandfather, provided that the relevant
proof is produced.